Scott Wykoff's Blog

Monday, January 5, 2015

1,2,3,4

Numbers don’t lie in the racing business. And over the
last week at Laurel Park the numbers have been adding-up quite nicely for some big time players in the Maryland racing business.

Just count ‘em, 1, 2, 3, 4.

1

Trevor McCarthy (left above) and Kieran Magee (right above) are both number 1 at the track in Maryland.

McCarthy and Magee finished 2014 as the top jockey and
trainer respectively at the major Maryland tracks.

McCarthy finished the year with 167 victories at Laurel and
Pimlico Race Course, 41 ahead of Victor Carrasco. The 20-year-old captured the
riding titles at all three meets during the year (Laurel winter,McCarthy, who ended the year ranked seventh in North America
in wins (263) and 20th in earnings ($8.1 million), broke his right wrist in a
spill December 20 will be out six to eight weeks to start 2015.

Magee had 55 winners at the major Maryland tracks during the
campaign, three more than Claudio Gonzalez. The 53-year-old shared the Laurel
winter title, captured the Pimlico championship and finished tied for fifth in
the Laurel fall standings. He finished the year winning at a 28.7% clip at the
major Maryland tracks.

Magee and McCarthy will be honored by the Maryland Jockey
Club this month in a ceremony at Laurel Park.

2

Sheldon Russell rang in the New Year with 2 big stakes wins
at Laurel Park.

The popular jockey Sheldon Russell guided Elnaawi (above), the son
of Street Sense for trainer Kieran McLaughlin to a 7-1/4 length victory in the $100,000
Native Dancer Stakes, the last of four stakes this afternoon at Laurel Park.

Before that, with Russell at the reigns, Star Pearl (above) hounded
the pacesetter to the top of the lane before wresting command and drawing away
to victory in the 1-1/16th mile, $100,000 Nellie Morse Stakes, the third of
four $100,000 stakes races Saturday afternoon at Laurel Park.

Sheldon is hot-off another great year of racing here in
Maryland. In 543 mounts in 2014 he
posted a 93-73-93 record with $2,980,892 in earnings over the year at both Laurel
Park and Pimlico.

3

Trainer Mary Eppler saddled 3 winners this past Friday
afternoon at Laurel Park, visiting the winners’ circle with Lily’s Peak
($3.40-race 1), Lovable Lady ($27.20-race 4) and Lasamanamama ($7.60-race 6).In the opener, Lily’s Peak won for the fifth time in 10
starts with a 6-length score. Lovable Lady broke poorly but was able to run
down Worldly Charm to win in her debut. Lasamanamama rallied off the pace for
her second consecutive victory in starter allowance company.

“It is good to have days like this,” Eppler said. “I was
really impressed with the first-time starter. I wrote her off after the break.
I did win with her mother (Summer Notebook) first time out. She had been
training well at Pimlico but she is a little on the goofy side.”

The 60-year-old Eppler, who has been training since 1980,
had more than $1 million in earnings for the first time in 2014.

She has three graded victories on her resume, including the
1996 Futurity (G1) with Traitor. The Baltimore County native conditioned
Belmont Stakes winner Victory Gallop to three wins in five starts as a
2-year-old (1997) and once exercised Hall of Famer Spectacular Bid during his
2-year-old campaign (1978).

4

Jockey Victor Carrasco swept the final
three races on New Year’s Day to cap a 4-win afternoon.

I guess so says this blogger!“I had some live horses in great spots
for top trainers. It was fun to win on Coach Fridge because he likes to finish
second (14 runner-up finishes in 34 previous starts). He always seems like he
tries to get beat. We got clear today but he was able to hold on.”

The 22-year-old ranked second in the 2014 Maryland
standings with 126 victories. Overall, he finished tied for 25th in
North America with 188 wins and was 37th in earnings ($5.4 million).